Richard Florida is author of the best-selling The Rise of the Creative Class and a former Ohio State faculty member. In his upcoming book, The New Urban Crisis, Florida argues that as the middle class continues to shrink, our cities are becoming small areas of privilege surrounded by vast swaths of disadvantage. His talk comes as Ohio State—a founding member of the Coalition of Urban Serving Universities—is re-examining how it can best address the needs of Columbus.

Florida earned his Bachelor’s degree from Rutgers College and his Ph.D. from Columbia University.